


for years and years I roamed

by abittersweetsong



Category: WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Future Fic, M/M, Post-Canon, Robbe and Sander are in love because duh, the broers sucked
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27909361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abittersweetsong/pseuds/abittersweetsong
Summary: He’s just drained the last dregs of his beer when he looks over to the door and sees them. The broerrrs, as tall and boyish looking as ever.Or Robbe hasn't seen the broers in a long time and he's not sure he wants to again
Relationships: Sander Driesen/Robbe IJzermans
Comments: 18
Kudos: 113





	for years and years I roamed

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Familiar, Foreign, or Both](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21397063) by [TOZ1ER](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TOZ1ER/pseuds/TOZ1ER). 



> hi! quick one shot because i've been trying to write my childhood au for like three days and it just does not sound how i want and i was about to rip my hair out.
> 
> i love the fic The Familiar, Foreign or Both and i've always wanted to write in the scenario where robbe decides to step away from the broers (and rightfully so, watching how they treated him still makes me seethe with rage) 
> 
> thats pretty much it sjhdash hope it doesn't suck

He’s just drained the last dregs of his beer when he looks over to the door and sees them. The broerrrs, as tall and boyish looking as ever.

Nighttime noise and cold air seep in through the door as they push it open, cutting cruelly through the pleasant heat of the bar, the chatter and clinking of glasses.

Jens leads the fleet like he always did stepping through the door first the other two flanking him. Robbe still vividly remembers what it felt like to be hidden behind Jens, half shadowed by his shoulder, always less confident, less sure, lonely. He feels something like nausea start to stir in his gut.

He hasn’t seen them in a while. Not since that last day of high school when he slipped out the gates without so much as a goodbye. The boys had offered him nothing in their last months of acquaintance, nothing but halfhearted invitations to parties and casual homophobic jokes so Robbe didn’t feel at all bad about dropping off the face of the earth.

He smiles down at his glass. He was too busy falling in love with Sander anyway, didn’t see any point in getting wasted at meaningless parties where the only talk was of girls and weed and sex, when he could be with Sander instead. Warm in his arms, pressed hard under his body, learning the lines of his back with shaky fingers.

Meeting Sander was the first moment Robbe felt like he could really _breathe_ in years. He’ll never forget it, how he heard the brightest laugh and turned and saw Sander, head thrown back eyes closed bathed gently in moonlight. How his heart thundered and how the weight of Noor’s hand in his seemed to vanish. He’d asked Noor right then if she knew him, though fear threaded through his veins and she’d pulled him over and introduced them, _Sander_ visual art student at the academie and the boy of Robbe’s dreams.

Breaking up with Noor had been painful, tears clogging his eyes as he explained and apologized over and over, cups of coffee cooling between them, untouched. But Noor was as sweet and kind as she always was, smiling even through the hurt in her eyes and laid her hands heavy on his until they both stopped quivering.

And now Robbe has them both, Noor and Sander, and Zoë and Milan and his mother. His little family, loving and comforting in all the ways he always needed. He doesn’t need to see the broers out in the wild again like a walking reminder of how miserable and trapped he used to feel.

He hopes they don’t notice him, not because he’s nervous, but more just that he isn’t sure he has the energy for what that interaction would be. The bar is pretty packed and Robbe tends to get lost in crowds, his neutral browns and greens fading easily into the background. But he’s sat at the bar and if they’re coming up to get a drink, which he knows they will, he’s going to be seen. Still, he lets himself live in delusion for a bit longer as he signals the bartender for another beer. He hopes Sander gets here soon, but he doesn’t know what that added factor will do for this sure-to-be awkward conversation.

He allows himself another subtle look at them out of the corner of his eye. They’re sidling across the room slowly, ducking between groups of people as they fight to get to the bar. Robbe doesn’t miss the way their eyes trail eagerly over girls they pass. Robbe snorts, they haven’t changed at all.

He glances away again and only hears them as they stumble up to the bar, voices loud and rowdy as ever even in the din. The bartender crosses the bar to slide Robbe his fresh beer and that’s when the boys fall silent. Robbe takes a huge gulp of his drink to try and soothe his dry throat.

“Robbe?”

He sighs, his hot breath fogging the edge of his pint glass and then rolls his shoulders back and turns to face them.

He offers them a small smile, “Hey guys, how’s it going.”

His tone is careful politeness and nothing more.

“Good we’re good it’s so cool to see you!” Aaron cries, oblivious as always, but well-intentioned.

“Yeah cool to see you guys too.” He doesn't know if it sounds believable, can't even sort out all the things he's feeling in this moment, but cool probably isn't the right word. 

“Crazy that we haven’t run into you before,” Jens says though his tone indicates that he knows that may have been on purpose.

Robbe shrugs, “Well Antwerp is a big city I guess.”

It’s too loud to truly be awkward, but tension settles between the four of them and Robbe doesn’t really feel like doing anything about it. He’s over tamping down his own feelings to please everyone else, so it’s up to them to break the silence.

Moyo seems the most unsettled by Robbe’s blasé attitude, so it doesn’t surprise him when he speaks up first, “So what are you doing now? Are you at uni?”

“Oh yeah I go to AU, I’m doing bioinformatics.”

“Oh nice. We’re all taking a gap year. Still trying to work everything out,” Aaron chimes in.

“That’s cool, sometimes it takes a while to work out what you want,” he allows himself a small private smile, “But you get there in the end.”

The three of them nod, but they’re thrown off kilter. Robbe doesn’t think he’s ever seen them this unsure, like they’re just trying to tread water. It brings him a little pleasure, though he knows it’s not really fair. They don’t know him anymore. Robbe himself can’t even recognise the person he was three or so years ago.

“You were single when we last spoke to you right? You have a girl right now?”

Robbe can’t help the laugh he lets out, it feels like a thousand years ago when he was still playing it straight, trying to work up the courage to have sex with Noor, to fit in, to please his friends, “No, no girlfriend.”

Aaron opens his mouth about to continue when Robbe gets distracted by Jens who’s staring at something over Robbe’s shoulder. He sees the other boys do the same.

A warm hand slips up his shoulder to the curve of his neck, “Hey.”

Robbe glances up at him, a wide smile blooming over his face, “Hey baby.”

Sander flicks his eyes to the broers leaned against the bar looking bewildered before looking back at Robbe, an eyebrow raised.

Robbe pouts, unconcerned and leans up higher. Sander breathes out a low laugh as meets him halfway and presses their lips together. It’s soothing and gentle, it feels like coming home. He gets a little lost in it, only breaking the kiss when Sander starts to giggle against his mouth.

When they pull away Sander drags an empty barstool as close to Robbe’s as possible, so he can tug him in close and get his arms around him. Robbe allows himself to be coddled, enjoys it more than he should, especially when Sander lets his mouth come to rest against his throat, his lips slightly open and wet against the skin.

Sander is warm, still wrapped in his leather jacket and smelling faintly of aftershave. His blonde hair has been mussed by the wind outside and left him adorably ruffled. The urge to kiss him again is so strong Robbe has to cough to keep himself in check.

He gazes back at the broers doesn’t even let himself assess their expressions as he says, “Guys this is Sander, my boyfriend.”

Sander lifts his head off Robbe’s shoulder to smile at them and give a little wave, but he frowns when he sees their faces. Their eyes are scanning quickly over all the places Robbe and Sander are wrapped around each other, unable to find a safe place to settle.

“Boyfriend?” Aaron asks looking so confused Robbe kind of wants to start laughing.

“Yeah boyfriend, I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept,” he replies dryly. Sander snorts next to him and he sees Jens crack a smile.

Moyo looks uncomfortable, but it’s tinged with guilt and Robbe has the sneaking suspicion that he’s replaying every joke he ever made about Robbe being gay in his head. Robbe is kind of ashamed how quickly the sight fills him with satisfaction.

Jens seems to notice too, and his expression sobers. He too looks guilty and regretful but hurt in a way Robbe doesn’t think he deserves to be. Sander rubs a soothing hand low on Robbe’s back and he melts under the touch. Sander has seen old pictures of the broers on Robbe’s Instagram, Robbe hadn’t bothered to scrub it clean so he knows who they are and how they made Robbe feel for the majority of his high school experience.

So, his voice is three quarters sarcastic when he says, “Nice to meet you.”

Robbe snorts and hides his face quickly in Sander’s shoulder.

Aaron not sensing the insulting edge to his words eagerly questions, “How long have you guys been together?”

Robbe can hear the smile in Sander’s voice when he answers, “About three years.”

The boys all raise their eyebrows in surprise.

“Shit that’s a long time,” Moyo says.

“Mmhmm,” Robbe answers taking another sip of his beer, Sander tightens his hand around his waist

“Wait so you guys started dating in high school?” Aaron asks, scratching his head comically.

Robbe nods, “I was still in high school yeah, we met in my second last year.”

There’s a pause and it’s loaded.

“Why didn’t you tell us then?” Jens asks, voice low but eyes hard.

Robbe levels them with a look, “Do you guys not remember what you were like in high school?”

They all shift in discomfort and Moyo seems to find his sneakers very interesting all of a sudden.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, “But those were just jokes we didn’t mean them, we would’ve been cool with it.”

Robbe tenses, “Well they weren’t funny, it fucking sucked. How was I supposed to know you’d be cool with it, what can I read minds now?”

Robbe doesn’t want to be angry, but he can’t help it. The resentment snuck up on him and he tastes bitterness on the back of his tongue. Sander’s hand tightens again and Robbe reaches around and intertwines their fingers, placating.

He longs for them to be done with this conversation. He wants to drag Sander home, kiss him until their lips are numb and have his way with him on their unmade bed. He can tell by the hand inching up his thigh that Sander’s thinking the same thing. He’s about to turn and meet Sander’s dark eyes when Jens speaks up.

“We’re sorry man.”

Robbe blinks, “You are?”

He knows it’s been a couple of years, but if there’s one thing the broers were terrible at, it was admitting their faults and saying sorry. He could count on one hand the number of times they had ever uttered the word.

Moyo sighs heavily, “Yeah we are, you’re right we were super shitty to you, sorry dude.”

Aaron agrees nodding dumbly, but he’s equally sincere so Robbe smiles at him.

“Okay thank you.” He looks at Sander who nods towards the door, “We’re gonna head home now but uh thanks for the apology, it’s been a long time, but I appreciate it.”

They stand to leave, but a hand falls heavy on Robbe’s arm.

“Wait!” Jens says.

Robbe stops and looks at him in question.

“Would you…” Jens trails off and glances at Moyo who gestures in encouragement, “Would you want to maybe hang out sometime? With us?”

Robbe bites his lip. He didn’t even want to talk to them tonight, hanging out with them willingly would be a whole other beast. Their apology is a positive step, a kind of closure Robbe didn’t know he needed, but he doesn’t know if he wants to throw himself right into that toxic environment again.

He sighs, “I don’t know if that’s something I want.”

Jens nods, sad but understanding and makes one last offer, “How about I leave you my number and it’s up to you if you want to use it?”

Robbe considers. They seem genuine about the offer, but also about giving him space and the choice to ignore them if he wants to, so he figures it can’t hurt,“Okay.”

Jens shuffles around in his pockets, pulling out a stray receipt and Moyo hands him a pen. He scribbles his number quickly and tears the strip in two. He passes it cautiously over. Robbe takes it, eyes looping over the digits and then he shoves the note in his pocket.

He smiles at the boys one last time before taking Sander’s hand and stepping out into the night.

It’s chilly on the street and Sander draws him in close, pressing little kisses along his cheekbone, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Robbe exhales leaning into his touch, trying to ignore the way his ears and nose are quickly turning to ice.

“Do you think you’ll call them?” Sander hums swinging their hands gently between them and steering them around a drunk couple who are stumbling across the pavement.

“I dunno.” He doesn’t want to think about it anymore, it’s a decision for another day.

“Okay,” Sander declares, his breath misting on the air, “No more talking about other men.”

Robbe laughs, “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Sander grins, but then his eyes darken, and he leans in close to Robbe’s ear, “There’s only one name you’re going to be saying tonight.”

Robbe shivers, anticipation zipping through him like lightning and he starts walking a little faster, Sander’s laughter trailing behind them like ribbon.

And if Robbe forgets about the note in his pocket for a couple of hours, days, weeks, well that’s not his fault.


End file.
